| Protected Area property owners offered money back | | Print | |
| Written by Richard Green/richard@fptci.com | |||
| Friday, 24 February 2012 16:10 | |||
 In an about face, the interim government now says it will refund the money people paid for Crown land lots in Chalk Sound National Park where they cannot build instead of offering them other land. Those 72 owners plus another 36 who bought or leased property in the Pigeon Pond and Frenchman’s Creek Nature Reserve will get only the money they paid, plus 7 percent interest, according to a letter dated Jan. 16 from Mary Harvey, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment and District Administration. Most of the properties were sold or leased to people between 2006 and 2009 with government approval, even though law prohibits residential and commercial construction in the Protected Areas. The Planning Department issued some building permits, and some owners began construction on their Chalk Sound properties. A few people have cleared lots in the Pigeon Pond and Frenchman’s Creek Nature Reserve but not begun construction. The Crown land in question was granted or leased despite an in-depth environmental report in 2006 advising government to enforce the 1992 law that says no residential or commercial construction is allowed in Protected Areas. The elected government of former Premier Galmo Williams decided in 2009 to offer owners Crown land elsewhere, a decision the interim government upheld after it took control in August 2009. A total of 29 titleholders have accepted offers of other land. Now the interim government has decided to refund monies paid for leases or freehold title plus interest. If all those who didn’t accept the land swap decide to accept the new offer, government would have to pay out approximately $300,000 plus 7 percent interest. A few owners are living in their homes in Chalk Sound National Park. However, Harvey’s letter says, “No other compensation is offered for any other monies that may have been expended.”  The offer is valid for three months. If owners do not accept, they can keep title to the land but cannot do anything with it that isn’t allowed by law. James Bassett bought his property in 2008 and is living in his completed house near Chalk Sound. Although he said the last valuation of his property was close to $400,000, he paid about $20,000 for the lot. “We want them to revisit (this decision), and if they don’t, we’re going to take legal action,” Bassett told the fp. “I have no choice. I have too much invested.” “I’m in it for the long haul,” he said. “I’m going to have to fight.” The Chalk Sound National Park property owners say they had no idea the Crown land they got was in a Protected Area. The lots in the Chalk Sound National Park range in size from 0.32 acres to 1.3 acres, and the average price paid per parcel was $8,674. Most parcels were sold for less than $5,000, and about one third were leased for payments of less than $1,000, according to the Crown Land Registry. At the eastern end of Proggin Bay, a company call Holiday Resort Development Ltd. was granted 50 acres, the largest single holding in the reserve. The government’s Civil Recovery Team has filed legal action to take back that land, alleging that conditions for the sale were not met before the land was transferred. Other beachfront lots along Proggin Bay vary in size from 2 to 5 acres. Along the western shore south Wiley Point in the nature reserve, seven people and companies have each leased 10 acres, and one company was granted 10 acres. Click HERE to read more about the TCI's Protected Areas Maps: (Top left) Property leased and granted in Chalk Sound National Park. (Bottom right) Property leased and granted Pidgeon Pond and Frenchman's Creek Nature Reserve.
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